Tag: Dave Bautista

Former WWE professional wrestling star Dave Bautista made a successful MMA debut last night in Providence, RI. Bautista beat Vince Lucero via TKO (ground strikes) in the first round of their main event bout.

Lucero, a late replacement, out weighed Bautista by nearly forty pounds and came into the cage with well over forty professional fights under his belt but couldn’t survive the pro wrestler’s ground attack. Early on, Lucero hurt Bautista on the feet with punches.

Once he was able to get space and clear his head, however, Bautista took things to the ground with a double leg take down. From there he moved to side mount, then mount and rear mount before unloading a series of unanswered punches that forced the referee to stop the fight.

Perhaps, perhaps not. But Bautista definitely has more guts than other celebrity performers out there who play tough guys on TV or film but have no idea what it is like to train for and take part in a real fight.

The pro wrestler promised that he would continue to fight and thanked his Tampa area team and coaches. Check out the fight video as well as full event results after the jump.

(Vince Lucero vs. Tim Sylvia at a 2010 CFX event. We’re not sure if we’ve ever seen a more pathetic ending to a fight in our lives. On second thought…)

Like many MMA fans out there, we are of two minds when it comes to Dave Bautista. On one hand, we should be applauding the former WWE star for having the cojones to step into the cage and give a sport as laborious and intense as MMA a try despite both his age and experience level saying that he should do just the opposite. On the other hand, he represents little more than another splash in the recent wave of professional wrestlers looking to exploit a sport they have little experience in and little desire to actually further.

More often than not, guys like Bautista, Bobby Lashley, and Brock Lesnar to a degree (TO A DEGREE) are not professional fighters in the purest sense of the word; they are opportunists who crossover to MMA looking to make a decent buck and get out before they hurt themselves too badly. For if they were seriously seeking a new career path, they would logically test themselves on the amateur circuit before diving head first into a sport in which ill preparation can lead to serious health issues in both the immediate and distant future. Although their participation in MMA in turn draws legions of new fans to the sport, it also cheapens the value of what it means to call oneself “a professional fighter.” Not to get on our soapbox here, but that is a title that should be earned through hard work and dedication, not a few months of sparring and pure name value.

“Okay Chael, I got right into the triangle defense you taught me! Now what?”

File this one under “Better (I guess) late than never.”

TMZ is reporting that former WWE Champion Dave Bautista – better known by his incredibly clever stage name “Batista” – has inked a deal with Rhode Island’s CES MMA. He will be making his professional MMA debut on October 6, which will take place at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

His opponent is thirty-three year old Rashid “Smash” Evans, who will also be making his professional MMA debut. Evans went 3-2 in amateur competition, with his most recent victory being a second round submission via strikes victory over Brett Jenkins at Barbarian Fight Club “2012″ in January.

Written (along with Hostel’s Eli Roth), directed, and starring RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan, the first trailer for The Man with the Iron Fists hit the interwebs recently, and we gotta say, it looks like Kill Bill fucked The Raid: Redemptionin the remains of Game of Death. In a good way.

In feudal China, a blacksmith who makes weapons for a small village is put in the position where he must defend himself and his fellow villagers.

And that position is apparently a seven clan battle that quite possibly carries out tournament style. If Bloodsport, The Quest, or really any movie in Jean-Claude Van Damme’s career has taught us anything, it’s that the tournament setup is far and away the greatest movie formula ever invented. And hey, our favorite San Shou practitioner appears at the 1:09 mark, where he delivers a monologue that literally must have taken days to remember.

I shouldn’t have to point out (but am going to anyway) that the film also appears to have hot Asian chicks in decreasing amounts of clothing. Lord knows I’m in based on that alone, but how about yous?

Lashley also spoke about the possibility of a fight with the legendary Fedor Emelianenko. “The guy’s got a tremendous amount of fights under his belt… I’d like to fight him.”

According to Lashley, Fedor’s managers are currently looking for the Russian MMA veteran’s next opponent, and his name is on the list of potential matchups. “I’m going to throw everything at him that I can. Of course, my wrestling’s there, I don’t give a damn what he’s doing. I’d put my wrestling up there with almost anyone right now.”

It’s too bad we didn’t notice this charity auction item until after bidding on it ended, because we know a few of you may have been interested.

WWE wrestler-turned MMA hopeful Dave Bautista (AKA “Batista”) was offering a one-hour training session with him and a Cesar Gracie black belt (please let it be Nick Diaz) at his newly-opened gym in Tampa Bay and a follow-up lunch as part of a charity auction for Ovarian cancer. Now, I’m not sure if our valuation skills are a bit skewed, but we’re guessing that the deal isn’t quite worth the $2,500 they estimated — especially when the winning bidder had to provide his or her own airfare and accommodations for the lesson.

(James Toney, shown above with one boxing glove, one MMA glove, and an artist’s depiction of what he might look like if he lost 85 pounds.)

By Jared “DangadaDang” Jones

During its rise to popularity, Mixed Martial Arts has become known for the incredible physical conditioning, talent, and (depending whoseside you’re on) heart of its athletes. It is a sport built on dedication; simply put, no amount of pink gloves and flirting with overweight TUF alums will make you an MMA fighter.

But as with any sport’s increase in mass appeal, MMA has seen its share of hacks, wannabes, scallywags and jabronis attempting to grab 15 more minutes of fame through a career in “that Ultimate Fighting stuff.” In light of James Toney’s continuing efforts to shake the MMA world with the use of side check kicks, I give you the five worst instances of C-to-D-list celebrities giving MMA the old community-college try.

5. Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson

The phrase “meteoric rise” comes to mind — one minute you were watching Kimbo smoke blunts in the background of semi-public orgies and the next he was being touted as the most formidable opponent to take Brock Lesnar’s crown. Mr. Ferguson landed on our radars through a series of brutal street fight videos in which he fought guys named “Afro Puff,” “Byrd,” “Chico,” and “Mayor McCheese.” These internet videos went viral so ferociously that the now-defunct EliteXC built him up to be their marquee star by feeding him other hopeless big lugs like “Bo” and “Tank.”

Kimbo was given his first “legitimate” opponent in James Thompson as the headlining bout of EliteXC: Primetime in May 2008. Despite possibly tapping to a guillotine in the first round and being on the receiving end of over 1,000 elbows in the second, Kimbo was able to pull off a rare standing-TKO of Thompson late in the third. (Good lookin’ out, Dan.)

Man, they sure are lowering the bar these days. According to TMZ, Dave Bautista (aka former WWE professional wrestler “Batista“) and renowned MMA trainer Cesar Gracie have created a new tag team, and will be opening a Gracie Fighter Jiu Jitsu franchise in Tampa. Though the gym is currently only open to “close martial artist friends,” it will be opened to the public next week; you can see a couple photos of the joint here.

The last we heard about Bautista’s MMA career is that it was dead thanks to the UFC acquiring Strikeforce. I’m not sure if I’m more surprised that Bautista can’t stop pretending he’s a real fighter or that Cesar is whoring out the Gracie family name like that. I hope his cousin Renzo gives him a good talking to about this whole ordeal.